3.26.2007

“Pro-Lifers” once again show their commitment to death

Almost exactly five years ago, I fulfilled my six-month probationary period at work and was finally eligible for health insurance benefits. One of the first things I did was skim the provider handbook to find the nearest Planned Parenthood so that I could make a date with a speculum. But Planned Parenthood wasn't listed in the provider directory. So, I called MCARE and asked if there was a PP near me that I could use for my gynecological needs, only to be told that MCARE doesn't cover PP for annual exams—only abortions. Pleased as I was to find that first-trimester elective and therapeutic abortions would be completely covered at the PP of my choice, I was a little dismayed to find that my insurance company didn't think that PP, the largest provider of women's health services in America, had any utility beyond abortion. In fact, they'd probably be shocked to find out that most PP affiliate offices don't even perform abortions (or if they do, only one or two days a week), focusing instead on boring stuff like pap smears and breast and cervical cancer screenings.

Apparently MCARE and Missouri's Governor Matt Blunt have something in common:

For fifteen years, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri clinics in Joplin and Springfield have offered free breast and cervical cancer screenings as part of the state’s “Show Me Healthy Women” program. Now Governor Matt Blunt has announced that he will cut off all program funding to Planned Parenthood and redirect it to other health clinics. “Patients should not have to go to an abortion clinic to access life-saving tests,” Blunt declared. Refusing to fund cancer screening at the clinics, he said, “ensures women may access important preventative care without contributing to abortion providers’ goal of facilitating the destruction of innocent life.”

PPSM has been providing quality health care to poor women for years—breast and cervical cancer rates have been dropping in the United States, and that is thanks to increased awareness and access to regular breast exams and pap smears, both of which help diagnose cancer earlier making treatment more effective. With lack of access to health insurance, and lack of funds to pay for life-saving treatments out-of-pocket, low-income women are disproportionately affected by breast and cervical cancer and have a higher mortality rate.

Governor Blunt is correct though—no women should have to go to an abortion clinic to receive cancer screenings. Of course, no women should be prevented from going to such a clinic if it is is closer to home or already that women's primary provider of reproductive health services. Or just because she feels like it. Cutting off access to health care—particularly from the largest provider of women's health services in the country—just to prove your fetus-love doesn't really do much to prove your pro-life (no scare quotes) chops. In fact, it shows a stunning lack of regard for the lives of poor women, who are more likely to use Planned Parenthood than a private doctor.

Oh, did I mention that PPSM doesn't actually provide abortions?

"[Governor Blunt] was being dishonest," says Kellie Rohrbaugh, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri, who says her office received a fax alerting them to the funding cuts 45 minutes before the governor's press conference. "We asked the administrator of the program if women had complained about going to Planned Parenthood, and she said we'd been a very good partner. We could get people in quickly, have them seen, refer them to treatment quickly if they needed it."

Hmmm...efficient, friendly, providing affordable quality care to people who most need it. It's obvious why PPSM's funding was first on the chopping block—it's giving lie to the anti's claim to the pro-life banner.

[via]

Labels: Douchebags, Feminism, Fundies Say The Darndest Things, Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries

annamaria at 7:56 PM

0 spoke

3.05.2007

Theatre of the Absurd at Casa Annamaria

Friday night dinners are a tradition for La Famiglia; all the Mitten State dwelling siblings congregate every other Friday at Mama and Papa G’s house for pasta and political discussions. Okay, so the political discussion is a relatively new thing, and one that only happens when we’re feeling particularly feisty. Mama G hates it when we talk politics, mostly because the four siblings that usually show up to dinner are Republican Brother, Fundie Sister, Liberal Brother and Me. Needless to say, discussions quickly turn to arguments which often give way to bedlam. In deference to Mama G’s hypertension, we do our best to temper discussions with humor, despite the heartfelt desire to jump across the table and settle the issue mano a mano.

Last weekend Liberal Brother had prior engagements that prevented him from joining us for our biweekly brawl. As a result, the righty faction was in high form, tossing about their particular brand of religio-conservative inanity. I present Friday Dinner, a Comedy in Four Acts:


ACT I

Fundie Sister brings up the case of a California girl who was suspended for saying “that’s so gay” in response to a boy who was taunting her for being Mormon. Actually, I take that back, the girl wasn’t suspended, despite Sister’s protestations to the contrary; she was given a warning and a notation was made in her permanent record (are they still using that one?). The school instituted a zero-tolerance policy on hate speech (including what some—not me—consider innocuous phrases like “that’s so gay”) after two boys were paid to beat up a gay student the prior year. Sister immediately starts on the persecuted Christian tip, and lambastes the school for not equally punishing the boy who used anti-Christian hate speech, all but arguing that the incident is proof positive of the homosexual agenda’s attempt to eradicate and marginalize Christianity. Had the boy asked if a Muslim girl’s father was a terrorist, Sister argues, he would have been punished for his anti-Islamic hate speech, but anti-Christian speech is just fine and dandy in today’s godless and secular world.

Remember, I’m without the assistance of Liberal Brother here, and am trying not to further stress my poor mother’s already beleaguered heart, so I’m silent as a church (ahem) mouse while my sister does her best impersonation of the severely unhinged. Finally, I agree that suspension is too harsh a punishment* but argue that some kind of correction or punishment was necessary. Even if, or perhaps because, the girl in question did not understand that “that’s so gay” is never an appropriate euphemism for “that’s stupid,” someone at that school needed to explain to her that homophobic language has no place in the public square. Further, I agreed that if indeed that boy was making anti-religious statements, he should have received an equal punishment or correction. Sister rolls her eyes to indicate that I am so naïve if I really believe that anyone cares a whit for the poor, persecuted Christians. I bite my tongue and restrain my hands so that I don’t smack the smug look from her face.

ACT II

Dinner is served. I erroneously assume the conversation will turn to less controversial topics. I am wrong. Republican Brother can’t help but bring up the plight of the poor Mormon girl again, only this time to weigh in and declare that he doesn’t even consider Mormons to be Christians anyway. Fundie Sister agrees.

Seriously, read that last sentence again: Fundie Sister agrees that Mormons are not really Christians. Then whence the fucking anti-Christian hate speech? Honestly, I know that it’s folly to expect consistency, but I have to wonder if anti-Semitic speech is somehow going to be used as proof of an anti-Christian bias in her mind. After all, Christ was a Jew!

ACT III

Somehow the conversation turns to Anna Nicole Smith. Don’t ask. Sister tells us that John Travolta was on TV saying that if only Anna Nicole had been a Scientologist, she would still be alive today. Sister and Republican Brother then take turns mocking Scientologists for their “crazy” beliefs. Annamaria bleeds from the mouth as she bites her tongue some more; apparently mocking (the beliefs of) religious folk is just fine so long as you can claim the moral high ground of being a Christian.


ACT IV

Dinner ends. I set about clearing the table to get the hell away from my siblings and avoid further mouth injury. Unfortunately, I can’t help but overhear them discussing the Republican presidential candidates. Republican Brother distrusts McCain and Giuliani; Sister agrees and vows to vote for Romney in the Michigan Primary.

Mitt Romney is a Mormon.

FIN

----------------------------
* I also take this back. Having not read up on the case of the Maligned Mormon Miss, I was unaware of the specifics of the case. Turns out she was not 8-years old as my sister claimed, but fifteen at the time of the incident. At fifteen, you know better. Suspension is a completely appropriate punishment (even though the school thought otherwise).

Labels: Bitch Bitch Bitch, Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 2:50 PM

3 spoke

1.11.2007

Fundies say the darndest things!

Fundies explain atheism:

"No, everyone is born Christian. Only later in life do people choose to stray from Jesus and worship satan instead. Atheists have the greatest "cover" of all, they insist they believe in no god yet most polls done and the latest research indicates that they are actually a different sect of Muslims."

---

Fundies explain physics:

"One of the most basic laws in the universe is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This states that as time goes by, entropy in an environment will increase. Evolution argues differently against a law that is accepted EVERYWHERE BY EVERYONE. Evolution says that we started out simple, and over time became more complex. That just isn't possible: UNLESS there is a giant outside source of energy supplying the Earth with huge amounts of energy. If there were such a source, scientists would certainly know about it. [emphasis added]"

---

Fundies explain away their kid's obvious gayness:

"I am a bit troubled. I believe my son has a girlfriend, because she left a dirty magazine with men in it under his bed. My son is only 16 and I really don't think he's ready to date yet. What's worse is that he's sneaking some girl to his room behind my back. I need help, God! I want my son to stop being so secretive!"

---

Fundies explain etymology and how to ignore history:

If your original Hebrew disagrees with my original King James --- your original Hebrew is wrong. If your original Hebrew agrees with my original King James, your original Hebrew is right."

---

Fundies explain simian biology:

[Replying to 'as for not seeing evolution it takes several million years... incase you missed that memo...']

several million years for a monkey to turn into a man. oh wait thats right. monkeys dont live several million years."

---

Fundies explain moral consistency:

"I appreciate your recommendation, and it is intriguing, but as a pro-lifer, I cannot support an organization that is opposed to the death penalty."

---

Fundies explain Michelle Malkin:

"[On homosexuality being a condition one is born with]

Just because you are born a certain way doesn't meant that is the way you have to be. Some people are born Asian, but through surgeries and counseling they can change."

---

Fundies explain closed-captioning:

"But God don't talk in Arabic. He talks in a REAL language, namely, English. It's true that back in them days He translated that to some other language after Speaking it in English, but after all, it's His universe and He can do what He doggone well wants to do."

---

Fundies explain Neanderthal* courting rituals:

"If u have sex before marriage then in Gods eyes u are married to that person if a man rapes a woman in Gods eyes they are married it sucks for the girl but what can we do lol"

---

Fundies explain Marlene Dietrich:

"Men should stick to blue and women should stick to pink. We dress babies in the right colors so why can't we do the same as adults? It is a sin to wear clothes that belongs to the opposite sex and women are particularly bad at violating this rule. Men don't wear dresses (apart from a few sickos) so why should females wear pants? It's a sin! Most women today are transvestites and abominations. [...]

So please dress like a man if you are a man and dress like a woman if you are woman and stop flaunting your satanic lifestyle and defiance of God. Thanks."

---

No, thank you!

---------
*Just kidding! Neanderthals are a lie perpetuated by godless evolutionists!

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 7:08 PM

0 spoke

Someone get James Kopp a new dictionary

click on the map, then click on a state to see a history of abortion clinic violence

Malice:

1. desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness: the malice and spite of a lifelong enemy
2. Law: evil intent on the part of a person who commits a wrongful act injurious to others.

Premeditation:

1. an act or instance of premeditating.
2. Law. sufficient forethought to impute deliberation and intent to commit the act.

On the evening of October 23, 1998, anti-choice terrorist James Kopp* laid in wait in the woods behind Dr. Barnett Slepian’s home with a high-powered military rifle equipped with telescopic sights. Dr. Slepian and his family had just arrived home from his father’s funeral; when Slepian passed in front of a kitchen window, Kopp fired the shot that killed him—in full view of Slepian’s wife and two of their four children.

In Federal Court on Tuesday, Kopp apologized to Lynne Slepian for murdering her husband. In an effort to save his own ass from serving a mandatory life sentence, Kopp (acting as his own counsel), defended himself against murder charges by arguing that he didn’t mean to kill the doctor, only maim him. According to Kopp, since he’s so very, very sorry, and he surely never thought that shooting someone in the shoulder with a military rifle could possibly kill them, he is totally and completely innocent of these silly murder charges.

Earlier Tuesday, Kopp used his opening statement to tell jurors that Slepian's death was "a full-bore, 100 percent tragedy" but was not murder because it was not malicious or premeditated.

Kopp has acknowledged planning the shooting for a year and then firing a high-powered military rifle with telescopic sights from the woods behind the Slepian home, but he has said he meant only to wound the doctor to prevent him from performing abortions."Shoot them in the head, blow up a car, riddle their body with bullets like they do in the movies. That's how you kill someone" with premeditation, Kopp said.

He urged jurors to look for evidence of premeditation or malice toward Slepian. "If you don't see it, that's me proving my case," he said.

Apparently, intent to do harm and a year's worth of planning are lost on Kopp. As the old adage goes, a man who represents himself will have a fool for a client.

-------------------
*And I will damn well call him a terrorist. He’s a member of Army of God, whose other members include Eric Rudolph and Clayton Waagner. AOG "Chaplain" Michael Bray has also spoken approvingly of the public beheadings of homosexuals in Saudi Arabia. How very pro-life of him.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things, Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries

annamaria at 12:40 PM

3 spoke

11.13.2006

My head just exploded

The American Family Association has just called for a boycott of Wal-Mart, claiming the union-busting, music-censoring, gender-discriminating discount chain is too....pro-gay!

I'm going to let that sink in for a second.

The AFA is a little more unhinged than usual on this one. Here are some of the claims:

• When you visit Wal-Mart via a link from their website, the Washington DC Metro Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Center will receive 5% of whatever you spend. The AFA describes the Center as " a place where homosexuals can come together to 'socialize;'" scare-quotes theirs. I wonder when "socialize" became code for fucking, and what does that mean for any future church ice cream socials?
  
  
• Wal-Mart sells books and other items that are of interest to gay people. Specifically, the AFA's team of crack researchers found 26 whole items that pertained to gay marriage. Without doing a lick of research, I bet several of those items were greeting cards and not one a manifesto for destroying the sanctity of traditional marriage and converting bored housewives into a league of pagan lesbian warriors.
  
  
• And...actually, that's it! Two whole bullet points from those over-achievers at the AFA.

The absolute best part of the boycott, though, is it's scope. The AFA is asking all members to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Apparently, come November 26th, its okay to pander to the gays so long as you're still getting a good deal on cheap shit made in China.

I must give credit where credit is due, though. Good on Wal-Mart for recognizing that the queer dollar is just as green as the breeder dollar. Of course, no self-respecting gay man would be caught dead buying anything in that crap emporium, but it's a good effort nonetheless. Now, let's talk about living wages and health care, hmm?

UPDATE: Pat Boone used to play tennis with Sam Walton, which is why his opinion on homosexuality matters.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things, LGBT

annamaria at 8:56 AM

3 spoke

8.17.2006

Finally, an abstinence pledge I can sign

Photo courtesy of Derek Goodwin Photography

This is a happily married gay couple.

This is a sheep.

I know that upon initial examination, it is difficult to discern any differences between the two, so I’ll do my best clarify:

• In the first photograph, both subjects are human.
• In the second photograph, the subject is an animal of the ovine persuasion.
• To elucidate further, our ovine friends, while cute and often soft and fluffy, are not human.
• Conversely, neither human in the first photograph should be mistakenly identified as a sheep, or any other non-human animal.

"But I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. Homosexuality is an alternative lifestyle," she said. "That doesn't make it marriage. Some people have group sex," she said. "She we allow two men and three women to marry? Should we allow polygamy with one man and five wives? For some people, the alternative lifestyle is bestiality. Do we allow a man to marry a sheep?"

Ms. Rowland,

I read with great interest your comments regarding gay marriage during an appearance on PBS’s “Colorado State of Mind.” I agree that sexual relations between humans and non-human animals is an abomination (to co-opt some of your language), and that we as a society must do whatever we can to prevent the sexual abuse of animals. I’ve never seen any poll numbers on how many Americans believe bestiality to be sinful, but I can state with confidence that they must outnumber those who oppose gay marriage and gay rights. So, in order to alleviate the fears of the anti-bestiality crowd, while still recognizing that gay humans should and do have rights, I am starting a campaign to have all decent Americans pledge to abstain from sex with non-humans.

I, __________________________, do hereby pledge to forswear and abstain from sexual relations with non-humans as a result of the recognition of marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans. This disavowal of bestiality should also be construed as a promise to renounce any intentions of marrying non-human animals.

Once a sufficient number of people have responded with their abstinence pledges, I trust you will back off from rhetoric equating loving gay couples with horrific acts of violence against sheep. I also trust that your final argument against gay marriage, the slippery slope to bestiality, will be laid to rest.

Yours in peace,
Annamaria

I'll let you know if I get a response.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things, LGBT

annamaria at 12:00 PM

3 spoke

7.28.2006

Egads! A Breast!

Zuzu at Feministe informs us that this magazine cover is causing quite a stir among the "what’s that baby doing attached to my object of sexual fetishization?" crowd. Oh dear. I’m not one to make essentialist arguments about what is natural for women, or what our bodies were designed to do, but I think it’s fairly obvious to most sane people that breasts have both function and form, and that’s why they’re so fucking cool.

I have to wonder about people who see images like the one above and immediately see something dirty and debased. Are they unable to contextualize? Do they not have any mothers in their lives? That looks like one happy, healthy baby and the curve of that woman’s breast (Look Ma! No nipple!) is aesthetically pleasing to say the least. I fear for society when the image of a child enjoying a meal causes an uproar while your average magazine stand looks like this.

Labels: Feminism, Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 10:56 AM

2 spoke

3.28.2006

When your baby has a baby...

No, seriously. When your baby has a baby:

In a rare operation, Pakistani doctors on Tuesday removed two foetuses, one of them fully grown, from the abdomen of a 45-day-old baby.

The infant, Nazia, was brought to Pakistan's Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad with a swollen abdomen four days ago by her parents who are poor labourers from the Swat district in the North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP).

Pam asks a very important question: if "pro-life" America truly believes that a fetus is a baby and all babies are precious little bundles of joy that must be saved at all costs, what in the world would they make of this?

My guess--they'll completely ignore it and pray to god that no one confronts them with it. Seriously, it's pretty difficult to slut-bait a 2-month old, even one so unlucky as to have her triplet siblings somehow find their way into her belly. And if the fundies can't have a good old fashioned whore-bashing, well, there's really no point to discussing abortion at all, is there?

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things, Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries

annamaria at 6:57 PM

1 spoke

3.23.2006

Napoli likes it rough? He gets it rough.

click me to make me bigger!

We've been talking a lot about Napoil here at BOMT - Annamaria has brought up some good points inspiring us to take action and fight for the rights of women. But what good does it do? Republicans fight dirty. And now, so do we.

In case your memory needs refreshing in order to become full of fury, remember this?:

A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.

Well, some bloggers have a bit of a great idea - launching a grassroots campaign to:

Raise funds for Planned Parenthood

Be a thorn in the side and make an ass of Napoil

Solution? Make a donation to Planned Parenthood in the name of our favorite backwoods friend, with the standard "thank you" note mailed to his house.

Don't have that address? I do!

6170 S Hwy 79
Rapid City 57702-8467
Home phone: 605-341-2370

Maybe you might know of some racy porn sites that will send you some fancy lit if you request it. Sometimes you can have stuff sent to friends (or others), too.

Updated by Annamaria: You can also send letters of support and/or make a donation to the Oglala Sioux Tribe to help with Cecilia Fire Thunder's attempts to open a Planned Parenthood on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Ginmar has all the info, which I am reprinting here:

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. Box 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

or

ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

Also, I Blame the Patriarchy commenter Hedonistic found these phone numbers to contact President Fire Thunder and offer your encouragement and support: (605) 685-6005 and (605) 685-5597.

Labels: Douchebags, Fundies Say The Darndest Things, Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries

Anonymous at 8:40 PM

0 spoke

3.21.2006

It’s my god-given right to raise ignorant children

General basics of disease prevention: washing hands, covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough, and cleaning and bandaging cuts. Later they learn not to touch other people’s blood, and to ask adults for help when someone is bleeding.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 9:49 AM

3 spoke

2.13.2006

What’s a little persecution between friends?

I continue to be completely amazed by the rightwing religious folks in this country. The Bushistas side with Pakistan, despite its horrific treatment of women, because they back the War on Terror. Saudi Arabian women aren’t much better off, but hey, they’ve got lots of oil so we can look the other way, right? And now the fundies are praising China (China!) for adhering to "traditional values" and banning films:

China, despite its poor record on human rights and outright ban on most non-state-run religion, still holds on to some traditional values abandoned by most western nations. These values have led censors there to ban the homosexual propaganda film, Brokeback Mountain.

This is a place where religious freedom is an oxymoron and Catholic priests are beaten and arrested for practicing their faith. Where anyone criticizing the government will have their identities handed over by American companies to appease a hardline government that cannot stand dissent. Re-read that paragraph, would you? "[D]espite its poor record on human rights and outright ban on most non-state-run religion..." Is this really the type of society you want to get in bed with? Is it enough to say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, when that nation so abhors individual freedom that they legislate which beliefs are acceptable? Christians in the United States should be appalled by China’s treatment of missionaries and priests, not praising them for finding yet another minority group to oppress.

Noam Chomsky once said, "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." By praising China’s ban of Brokeback Mountain, the fundies are tacitly endorsing that nation’s clamp down on all expression—including the expression of one’s Christian beliefs. And they should be ashamed of themselves.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 10:21 AM

9 spoke

2.02.2006

Oops! I almost defended Wal-Mart!

I had a conversation with my Republican brother a few weeks ago, and we were shocked to find out that we actually agreed about something; I mentioned that the media focus on Wal-Mart's business practices is often unfair in that it ignores the fact that other corporations employ similar methods. I doubt that Target employees fare much better than Wal-Mart's, but since Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the United States, the focus will always be on them. Republican Brother agreed. Of course, I couldn't content myself with stopping there, and we quickly disagreed about the role that a company like Wal-Mart should play in addressing (and redressing) pay inequality, lack of reliable and affordable health care, and worker's rights. It seems to me as the largest employer in the United States, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to do better than its competitors, to behave better than its competitors. Republican Brother disagreed, but, well, he's a Republican.

But my defense of Wal-Mart was pretty tepid, since I find them to be one of the most repugnant corporations on the planet--pretty difficult for a feminist like myself to justify spending any money in a place that is currently party to the largest sexual discrimination lawsuit in the history of the EEOC. So, when three Massachusetts women decided to sue Wal-Mart for refusing to stock emergency contraception I'll admit to feeling a little smug.

But, alas, the fundies want to take me down a notch: it seems that the plaintiffs are not little Davids triumphing over the evil, corporate Goliath--they worked with several abortion rights groups prior to filing suit. The implication is that the women specifically chose to take their prescriptions to Wal-Mart knowing that the stores did not carry EC, so that they would have grounds to file suit. Well, that's pretty bad, right? I can imagine that this sort of thing is frowned upon in civil rights circles. Imagine if, during the the era of segregation, someone specifically chose to break a law, by sitting in the whites-only section of a bus for example, to prove that the law was unjust and discriminatory. Ah, if only the wonderful folks at Lifesite were around to stop Rosa Parks...

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 8:36 PM

5 spoke

1.30.2006

I blame the Scots

Oh, the fundies are going to be in an uproar about this...

A male high school student can wear a skirt to school after the American Civil Liberties Union reached an agreement with school officials.

[…]

Coviello first wore a costume-style dress but high school officials told him to go home and change. The district’s superintendent then advised the Coviello to purchase everyday dresses and skirts at a retail store, which Coviello did, the ACLU said.

But after a few days, he was sent home with a note from his principal saying if he wore a dress, kilt or skirt, he could no longer attend school.

Oh dear! What’s next, girls wearing trousers? Oh, wait...

The Concerned Women for Patriarchy America have already weighed in, proclaiming the decision another win for the gender confusionists—you know, the same people that created that Barbie website. What they have missed, of course, is that the student, Michael Coviello, was only wearing the skirt to protest the school’s no-shorts policy. You see, he’s not a tranny in the making, he’s the Che of the Great Short Pants Revolution. The Avec Culottes, if you will.

Seriously, though, I’m looking for a little insight here, and maybe our dear BOMT readers can shed some light on this issue for me. The CWFA seems to think that men wearing skirts will somehow emasculate them, or at the very least, generate some kind of gender confusion which obfuscates the very real differences between men and women. My question is this: What is inherently female about a skirt? Is there something about the vulva that requires airing? Let’s assume that I see Mr. Coviello walking down the street wearing a skirt, what is the greater social implication of my confusing him with a woman? Does this cause some kind ripple in the space-time continuum? Will the world as we know it end? It’s winter in Michigan, and despite an unseasonably warm January, I wear pants everyday. I’ve never been mistaken for a man. Granted, I have long hair, jangly earrings and tits, so those are pretty good indications that I am a woman, but I’m willing to bet that Mr. Coviello wasn’t pairing his protest-skirt with a lacy blouse and heels. So, enlighten me my non-radical feminist friends, ‘cause frankly I’ve read too much gender theory to even pretend to understand why this is even an issue*.

--------------------
*I’m going to clarify this: as a radical feminist who has a read a good deal of gender theory, I understand what the big deal is—the gender binary, and its conflation with biological sex, is a necessary underpinning of a patriarchal system. As long as we believe that men and women are inherently different (in ways other than basic reproductive biology) and that gender is a natural and normal occurrence which always correlates with biology, then we can continue to justify gender discrimination and oppression. Makes sense, right? However, I’m pretty sure that your garden variety misogynist/homophobe doesn’t tread too far into the theoretical waters gender politics. What I want to know is, why does your average guy/gal on the street freak out at the notion that a man might wear a skirt? And how do they avoid cognitive dissonance when they ignore women in trousers? What do they see as the inevitable consequence of ignoring gender mores? I see liberation, but I have a feeling that’s not the popular opinion.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 1:08 PM

6 spoke

1.03.2006

Barbie: Gender Revolutionary

I always find it humorous when I agree with the basic premise of a far-Right argument, only to be utterly confounded by the reasons they use to come at their conclusions. For instance, the basic premise is "Barbie is evil." I can get behind that. The reasoning, however, a little suspect: "A poorly-worded poll on the Barbie website promotes gender confusion and will lure your children into the hedonistic world of the homoabortionists*." Yeah, I’m not so down with that.

Concerned Women for Patriarchy America spent some time at Barbie’s Malibu Mansion, and found a poll which suggests that America’s favorite doll** wants to turn your babies gay. The poll started out innocuously enough, asking children to enter their gender from a drop down box; unfortunately, the nefarious web designers betrayed their true intentions by offering up three gender choices: girl, boy and I don’t know. Obviously, by offering up a third choice (which rumor has it was originally "bear daddy" before being changed to the more gender-inclusive "I don’t know"), Mattel are intimating that it is perfectly acceptable for children to usurp the gender binary, spelling doom…DOOM!...for the American way—you know, traditional families, apple pie and kicking the queers while they’re down.

CWA’s Robert Knight (a man!), had this to say:

"It’s the idea that well, maybe people aren’t born a particular biological sex, or they are but that shouldn’t determine their gender identity," Knight said. "And that’s a very big component of the homosexual activist agenda now."

The acronyms for the movement used to be limited to L and G, which stands for lesbian and gay. Then they added the letter, B, which means bisexual. Now it’s LGBT lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and some even add Q, which stands for questioning youth***, Knight pointed out.

"In other words, any kid who’s not sure about who he is, he’s fair game to try to persuade to have same sex acts," said Knight.

Holy leap of logic, Patriarchy Man! I can imagine the scenario right now:

Little Timmy (or perhaps Tammy) logs onto the Barbie website to answer a poll about whether Ken or Blaine is the better man for Barbie (we’re going to leave aside the obvious fact that any man named Blaine is gay). Timmy/Tammy looks at the drop down menu and realizes that a third choice is available—a beacon of light and hope for the youngster who has been questioning his/her gender identity of late, due mostly to a predilection toward shooting guns while wearing high heels. Timmy/Tammy grows up, consoled by the knowledge that Barbie understands his/her true state of gender ambiguity, and promptly joins a homoabortionist sect, where he/she is lured into homosexual acts by leather daddies/bull dykes, who capitalize on Timmy/Tammy’s gender confusion and keen fashion sense. They all live happily ever after. No wait! I mean, Timmy/Tammy flounders without the oppressive weight of binary gender distinctions keeping him/her from floating off into space and burning up in the exosphere. There, that’s better.

----------------
*I’ve decided that “homoabortionists” is the funniest word I’ve ever made up, and will continue to use it whenever fundies talk about “the gays.”
**Anyone know if the story about the Lilli doll, on which Barbie was based, being a sort of German gay counterculture icon is true?
***As an aside, the Q in LGBTQI (and unwieldy acronym that I’ve never actually heard anyone use) stands for Queer or Questioning. Only Bob Knight seems to think that “Questioning” implies youth; anyone who’s taken a Queer Studies class, or, you know, actually knows someone who’s gay, would know otherwise.

Labels: Feminism, Fundies Say The Darndest Things, LGBT

annamaria at 11:57 AM

0 spoke

12.16.2005

It's a good thing Narnia is such clean, wholesome fun

These children are evil

I’ve noted before that there are times when I feel that my criticism of the Religious Right is too harsh. I don’t believe that all Christians are crazy or out of touch with reality; in fact, most Christians I know are so far removed from the Falwells and Phelpses of the world, that I can’t believe they are practitioners of the same religion. So, just when I feel the need to apologize, and take back all the mean things I’ve said about fundies, Agape Press manages piss me off twice in one week:

A Catholic sociologist and writer from Bavaria believes Harry Potter is a "global long-term project to change the culture" by destroying children's inhibitions against cursing, magic, and occult practices.

British author J.K. Rowling has sold an estimated 300 million copies of her popular series of books on a fictional society of witches and wizards. The books have also spawned a series of popular and financially successful films. But Gabriele Kuby, author of the book Harry Potter: Good or Evil, believes the Potter books and the four subsequent movies are "evil" -- and that parents should avoid exposing their children to them.

"The confusion of good and evil, which happens in Harry Potter all the time, is dangerous because it's the foundation of what the Pope calls relativism," Kuby explains. "Relativism means there's no sure criteria for good and evil -- and if that is sunk into the soul, it's dangerous."

There is a scene in the latest Harry Potter movie in which Harry must decide whether to save his friend Cedric from certain death or make a move to win the illustrious Triwizard Tournament. He chooses to turn back and save his friend. Does this sound like the kind of lesson that "parents should avoid exposing their children to?" I cannot imagine that any child would watch these films or read these books and decide that life as a witch or a warlock is in the cards for them. Kids have a better understanding of reality and fantasy that these people give them credit for, and often children seem to have a better grasp on reality than the people who claim that Harry Potter will turn them into spell-casting witches with potty-mouths.

Here’s my favorite passage from the article:

Kuby is convinced the Potter phenomenon is a "mockery of Judeo-Christian truth" and says subjecting young students to Harry Potter books in schools is "intolerant." The author believes the Potter series is replete with occult practices as well.

Well, at least Agape Press is being consistent with its definition of "intolerant", which apparently means enjoying anything that isn’t slavishly devoted to Christian values. If nothing else, Harry Potter makes kids read. My nieces can tear through all 700 pages in a week or less. They don’t do that with the Bible, and they have no use for the Chronicles of Narnia, but hand them a Harry Potter book and good luck getting them outside to play. Please tell me how a generation of literate children can be a bad thing.

The fear with Harry Potter has nothing to do with a fervent belief that kids will suddenly become witches and warlocks and lose all sense of good and evil. The fear is that kids will develop their own sense of morality, one that is not as rigid and unforgiving as most Christian doctrine. And when these kids grow up, having decided for themselves what good and evil means, they will have no use for the dogma and stridency of the Religious Right. And that’s got to be terrifying for the Falwells and Phelpses of the world, who need us to be fearful and acquiescent so that their belief system can survive.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 10:17 AM

3 spoke

11.30.2005

Oh, for Christ's sake!

First Wal-Mart, and now the city of Novi*--when will the persecution of Christians end? A local family was told by their subdivision association to remove their lawn nativity scene, because it violates association by-laws against lawn statues:

The multicolored nativity scene on the Samona family's front yard is under attack.

The Samonas' neighborhood association has ordered the Novi family to remove its seven-piece plastic display or face possible fines of $25 to $100 per week.

The family isn't budging and neither are its three wise men. The Samonas have vowed not only to keep the display, but also are threatening to enhance it."If you take this out, it's not Christmas anymore," said Joe Samona, 16, as he reached down and scooped baby Jesus from the creche on his parents' front lawn.

Do you hear that people? When you refuse to acknowledge the piety of gaudy lawn ornaments, the baby Jesus weeps. Nevermind that when this family moved into their neighborhood they knowingly signed an association contract specifically forbidding lawn statues without the express written permission of the association. Just because you've signed away your property rights doesn't mean you don't get to bitch about it later.

I live in one of these subdivisions with nonsensical association by-laws against lawn ornaments and having too many vehicles parked in your driveway. They are fascistic and ridiculous, and when we sell our house you can bet that we will reserve our right to complain about the by-laws which keep our property values artificially high all the way to the bank.

My friend Jay and I were discussing the "Happy Holidays" issue last night, and we both concluded that "Christians" are upset for all the wrong reasons. The problem isn't that Happy Holidays has replaced Merry Christmas, or even that tacky nativity scenes are being taken down. The real problem is that Christmas has become so commercialized it barely resembles a holy day anymore. Last I checked, Jesus did not tell us to go forth and buy Playstations for our children as a way to show our faith, nor did he ever ask us to put pretty baubled trees in our living rooms and leave cookies and milk for a fat man in a red suit. If "Christians" want something to complain about, they should be looking at the vapid, consumerist nightmare that Christmas has become. But everyone loves a good sale, so they are more than willing to overlook the secular aspects of Christmas when it suits them.

------------
*Fun Fact from the Mitten State: The City of Novi reputedly gets its name because it was the 6th stop on the rail line from Detroit to Chicago. The station sign read No.VI

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 8:36 AM

5 spoke

11.16.2005

Happy Holidays!

This rainbow proves that the
godless fags are out to get Christmas.

My love of the Concerned Women for Patriarchy America has been well documented here. Their tireless campaigns against such evils as Harry Potter and the National Education Association are an inspiration to liberty-loathing fundies everywhere. I am particularly impressed with their stance against sexism. After all, most groups purporting to represent concerned women would be lead by women. Not the CWFA! No, they buck all forms of gender discrimination and are lead by a man! Take that you evil man-hating feminists!

Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America’s Culture & Family Institute (a man!), recently brought to light a horrible injustice in America today. Seems the evil, God-hating despots of Wal-Mart are doing their best Grinch impersonation and are single-handedly destroying Christmas. By recognizing that other religions also celebrate their high holy days in late December, Wal-Mart is terrorizing "Christians" and killing babies...or something like that:

"Wal-Mart has done so much good over the past few years, aiding the Salvation Army and other good causes, that it’s heartening that they won’t have this anti-Christmas albatross hanging around their necks as the Christmas buying season begins in earnest," said Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America’s Culture & Family Institute. "Now they need to take the next step and free their employees from the tyranny of having to say the vapid ‘happy holidays,’ and to let them wish people a ‘Merry Christmas,’ or, when appropriate, ‘Happy Hanukkah.’"

That's a fabulous idea Mr. Knight! When a nun walks into the local Wal-Mart, employees should feel free to wish her a Merry Christmas. And sales associates should be encouraged to wish Hassids a Happy Hanukkah. Now, what to do with those pesky millions of other people who don't wear their religious affiliations quite so boldly? Perhaps we need to institute a policy whereby, oh, I don't know, Jews were required to wear something...a Star of David, maybe...which would signify their religion. That way, when they go to Wal-Mart, cashiers and sales clerks are sure to use the correct holiday greeting. I think this plan has real potential...

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 10:34 AM

1 spoke

11.01.2005

Further proof that anti-choicers are out of touch with reality

Our friends at Lifesite were kind enough to inform me that Brooke Shields is pregnant with her second child. This news only matters to me because it promises to give us another viewing of an apoplectic Tom Cruise, and frankly, the battier he gets, the more interesting he becomes. Particularly because it detracts from his abysmal movies. Seriously, did anyone see War of the Worlds?

Of course, Lifesite is hardly in the business of reporting on celebrities, so what purpose could they possibly have to comment on Ms. Shields? Well, to damn her for using in-vitro fertilization, of course!

Movie star Brooke Shields is pregnant with her second child. She already has a daughter with her husband, TV writer Chris Henchy, conceived by in-vitro fertilization. Presumably this second child is also an IVF baby, although news sources did not reveal this information.

Shields wrote about her experience of severe depression following the birth of Rowan Francis in 2003 in her book Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression. Australian researchers revealed in August that women who conceive through IVF are four times more likely to suffer from post-partum depression and early parenting difficulties as compared to women who conceive naturally.

IVF creates children outside of the loving union of a man and a woman. Furthermore, the lives of the embryonic children conceived by the IVF procedure are under severe threat since the latest statistics have revealed that over 85% of embryos transferred in the procedure die in the process. With over a million children having been born via IVF, that would amount to nearly six million embryonic children killed with the procedure.

Unfortunately for Lifesite, blaming women for post-partum depression doesn’t make them nearly as interesting as Tom Cruise. Nor does condemning the millions of would-be parents who are unable to conceive children through “natural” means.

I’m going to say this again, because apparently it bears repeating. Embryos die. They die at a rate of 50% during “natural” conception, when for some reason or another they are expelled from a woman’s body before being implanted in the uterus. Spontaneous abortion is as much a part of “natural” reproduction as happy, healthy babies. Death, as much as these people hate to admit it, is a natural and inevitable part of life. Some of us live to a ripe old age, some of us are killed in car accidents, and still others of us never make it past the embryonic stage.

As for the link between IVF and post-partum depression, guess what? Not as clear-cut as Lifesite wants you to think:

The group also found that women who became mothers using IVF were likely to be older, have multiple births and require delivery by Caesarean section. All these factors have been linked to an increased risk of postnatal depression in previous studies. These findings led the researchers to speculate that 'a previous history of fertility difficulties, advanced maternal age, assisted conception, operative delivery and multiple birth may heighten the risk for postpartum mood disturbance and early parenting difficulties'.

Seems that the circumstances that drive women toward IVF (advanced age, fertility difficulties, etc) are the same things that increase the risk for postpartum depression. Correlation, darlings, not causation.

-----------
N.B. - This marks my inaugural Passive-Aggressive Use of Quotation Marks post. From this point on, I will co-opt the favored tactic of the right and use quotation marks inappropriately, paying special attention to words that fundies really like. "Natural" makes its debut here. In the future, I hope to use "heterosexual," "fetus" and "Christian."

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things, Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries

annamaria at 11:30 AM

2 spoke

4.08.2005

I did this so you didn't have to: Best-of Fundie Blogs, Pt. 2

Like Jen, there is no end to the things I will put myself through for our dear readers. Today, I read LifeSite so you don’t have to. A brief foray into the crazy contained therein:

• Leading Protestant Minister Reminds Prime Minister to Abstain From Communion at Pope’s Funeral
  
  No one, and I mean no one, uses the word abstain more than the fundies…but I digress. Seems "popular protestant minister and television personality" David Mainse needed to remind Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin—who supports marriage equality—that the fires of hell await those that eat crackers while endorsing sin. He says, and I quote because I can’t begin to make this shit up:

  I pray that conviction of sin and righteousness and judgement (sic) to come will come upon the political leaders who attend that funeral service. And may they not be so hypocritical, those who are Roman Catholic, to receive communion who have not had absolution for something that is obviously a grave sin.

  Obviously marriage equality is a grave sin—after all, think of all the commandments that specifically prohibit same-sex marriage, and all of Jesus’s admonitions…wait, what’s that you say? Same-sex marriage isn’t once mentioned in the Bible? No commandments either, huh? Hmmm…
  
  
• Official English Translation of Pope John Paul II Last Will and Testament
  

  
  This is seriously worth a read if you get a chance. I’m only going to address this one bit from his will:

  I leave no property behind me of which it is necessary to dispose. As for the everyday objects that were of use to me, I ask they be distributed as seems appropriate. My personal notes are to be burned. I ask that this be attended to by Fr. Stanislaw, whom I thank for his collaboration and help, so prolonged over the years and so understanding

  Yeah, if I had ignored years of sexual abuse by my priests, I’d want my personal notes to be burned, too.
  
  
• Priests for Life Head Fr. Pavone Preaches to Standing Ovation at Schiavo Funeral
  

  
  Short story--Fr. Pavone gets the rockstar treatment for taking up the "culture of life" cause.

  "God calls us to go forth from this place and build a culture of life," he said. Fr. Pavone described Terri's death as the result of "a clash of world views" that divides "those who say suffering is meaningless" and Christians "who do not watch human suffering from a distance but instead jump into it."

  Yeah, because it's pretty much a guarantee, if suffering exists anywhere in the world, Christians are around somewhere.
  
  Oh, and this quote from Fr. Thaddeus Malanowski about Terri Schiavo is priceless: "She showed us how to live." Yeah...I'm beginning to think that Terri Schiavo was like the right-winger's ideal women: she lays flat on her back, barely eats and has no brain.
  
  
• Former President Clinton Insults Pope on Way to Funeral
  

  
  Poor Bill just can't catch a break. Um, people, he hasn't been president for five fucking years! Get over it!
  
  

• Kansas Voters Approve Constitutional Amendment Banning Homosexual Marriage
  

  
  Kansas voters approved, by a margin of 70-30, a constitutional amendment banning all marriage except that between one man and one woman. Rev. Terry Fox of Wichita says "We always felt like if Kansans were given an opportunity to vote, they would vote strongly to protect marriage and defend marriage in the way it has traditionally been defined." By that reasoning, the amendment should really go way beyond banning same-sex marriage. It should:

  
  
  • Make women civilly dead upon marriage
    
  • Allow for polygamy (read your Bibles people!)
    
  • Overturn all laws against marital rape
    
  • Roll back women's property and custodial rights
    

  
  

  Need I really go on...
  
  
• Rally to Support Calgary Bishop Henry as He Faces Trial by Homosexual Activists
  

  
  Am I the only one imagining a panel of drag queen and bear daddy judges? Anyway, the Alberta Human Rights Commission recently considered two complaints against Bishop Henry for his frequent homophobic comments. Now, all the fundies are coming out en masse to rally around the Bishop. This is particularly choice: our good friend David Mainse called Henry, "a very courageous bishop who reminds me so much of Cardinal Wojtyla." Cardinal Wojtyla--hey, that's the Pope! I thought we weren't allowed to compare the Pope to us mere humans?
  

Okay, after reading all of that...I feel dirty. And not in that good, I'm a proud sinner kind of way.

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

annamaria at 9:58 AM

0 spoke

3.31.2005

I did this so you didn't have to: Best-of Fundie Blogs, Pt. 1

As promised, fun with fundies.

After the passing of Terri Schiavo this morning, religious right blogs were crazy. People were furious! Ashamed to be American, even!

Today, I am ashamed to be an American. [See! I told you!]

The inhumane monsters who condemned Terri Schiavo to be executed by prolonged torture succeed today. .. In the last hours, as a final blow to Terri's parents, the human debris known as Michael Schiavo refused them access in her final hours.

Yes I'm mad and I may call them more names. America is now officially a rotting corpse. We have embraced Nazi tactics in removing “unwanted” people. Our courts are a mockery, our legislators are lazy, and play silly games with legislation, making them meaningless. Our executive branch hides behind wimpy excuses and allows the innocent to die.

--Courtesy of jacklewis.net

I’m kind of interested where this quoted comment came from. Readers, any of you know when Michael called Terri “the bitch”?

But Michael chose to part from Terri in a much different, more dastardly way, while seeking her death and while sleeping with another. And that is not a marriage. That is not a bond...That is a sinister, ghastly form of selfishness that good men find incomprehensible and women should fear.

Michael, it most assuredly can be said, proved far sicker than his wife ever was. All Bob and Mary Schindler wanted was to be given legal guardianship of their daughter, so Michael could move on with his life, his girlfriend, and his two children by her...The Schindlers wanted no more than to rescue their daughter from years of lock-down confinement in a grim hospice room; to provide her a real home, real tenderness, and a place to live that was alive with life, rather than encircled by death.

But Michael would have none of that. No, Michael wanted something far different. He wanted "the bitch" dead, he wanted her body cremated, he wanted her ashes placed in the ground well before her time had come, long before God would have called her. And, were this not callous and calculating enough, Michael wanted those ashes far removed from his in-laws, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. What he made difficult for the Schindlers while Terri was alive, he now wants to make more difficult after her death. His malice knows no bounds. This sad excuse for a man even denied the family their poignant request to be at Terri's side when her breathing expired and her spirit slipped away. Cruelty, thy name is Michael Schiavo.

--Courtesy of A Certain Slant of Light

Harsh.

Here’s my favorite though. Emphasis, bad spelling, and bad grammar are all theirs.

Let me tell you a story. Okay you have a dog that gets hit by a car and becomes so bad off brain wise that you have to feed it by hand for the rest of its life. You love this dog so much that you do this everday. So finally after six months, it gets to much for you. You decide to let it STARVE to death.

Then word of it gets out and every Animal Rights Group is calling for you Head on a Silver Platter.

The SPCA and local laws protect this dog and you go to JAIL for starving this animal its called ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS

So what our animal are more important to us than another human life?

Its okay lets STARVE a HUMAN BEING to DEATH but boy do not do that to an animal as your going to JAIL

What I want to know is where are our HUMAN BEING CRUELTY LAWS

--Courtesy of Save Terri

What I love, though, is that people are tearing them a new one in the comments for the complete lack of a logical argument. I can’t really say it better than this person, lethergo, though:

I just love the "dog vs Terry" argument.

If my dog were in a similar state to that of Terry Schiavo, the state would arrest me for NOT having it put to sleep (euthanized). Reasonable people can see that this is the kind, "humane" thing to do.

Yet when the creature is a human being, people allow their personal crusades and agendas (hello anti-abortionist, moral elitist, bible-thumper's) to cloud their judgement. Suddenly it is no longer "humane" to ease suffering. Suddenly, those who discontinue the ARTIFICIAL extension of life come to be labeled as murderers. Pah-lease.

I truly wish Terri were capable of standing up and walking down to the cafeteria for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that she is capable of doing that. She has a physical state similar to a 100 year old, and a mental state that is undeniably less than a....well even a common mouse has the mental capacity to feed itself. She truly is in a vegitative state. There is no other way to describe it.

Let the poor girl go. I'm so glad for the family's sake that she truly is incapable of understanding her current state. If she could, I have no doubt she would scream out in horror at what her parents and family had put her through. Who would want to wake up one day and find themselves in this condition?

The father placed her hand into the palm of her husband on the day of their marriage. He turned over, at that time, her gardianship to him. It is his decision, period.

Who wants the government (any level) to have the authority to step in and make our final decisions for us???

Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things

Anonymous at 3:12 PM

0 spoke